Chapter Chat: Anderson lavishes praise on Scarva organisers

Sovereign Grand Master Rev William Anderson commended the Royal 13th organising committee – members of the Sir Knight Alfred Buller Memorial RBP 1000 – for their sterling work.

“The Sham Fight at Scarva is truly a day like no other, drawing massive crowds. It is amazing that such a large-scale event is organised by a small team of volunteers,” he said.

“This year’s celebration was a resounding success, due to the great work of members of RBP 1000 who deserve the highest praise for their commitment and diligence.” 

The July 13 showpiece event returned to the Co Down village of Scarva after an absence of two years. 

It attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the small village who came to witness a procession of more than 4,000 members of the institution and around 75 bands, as well as the spectacle of the Sham Fight. 

Sandy Heak, chairman of the organising committee, was delighted to see the huge numbers at Scarva.

“It was a magnificent turnout,” he said. “We expected to see big crowds after the two years of parades being curtailed by the pandemic, but we were delighted to see such numbers of spectators lining the route and enjoying the celebrations.”

He added: “Over the past two years the loyal orders were happy to comply with restrictions to help reduce the spread of Covid, and our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost family members during the pandemic.”

John Adair, who has played King William III in the annual spectacle for around 30 years, was well pleased with the events of the Thirteenth.

“We had another victory, just as expected,” he said.

“Overall, it was a fantastic day, with a terrific response from the crowd of spectators.”

His adversary, King James II – played by Colin Cairns – suffered a mishap on the day when his sword broke, the handle parting company with the blade.

He put his defeat down to having to go into battle “with an inferior sword!” but promises to return fully prepared and in fighting form for next year’s encounter.

Mr Adair had words of praise for the team of volunteers from RBP 1000 who had the task of cleaning up the grounds of the demesne after the hordes of visitors headed home.

“They started work after the crowds left, clearing up until late in the evening, and then coming back the following day to finish off,” he said.

“They did a great job, and so did the staff of ABC Council who cleaned up the village in the hours after the visitors left.

“All credit to the council workers – I went through the village around 9.30 on the evening of the 13th and it was in a spotless condition.”

Sir Knight Adair also paid tribute to the PSNI and St John Ambulance.

“You could not run an event of this magnitude without having such support on the ground and thankfully there were no major incidents,” he said.

Institution members from Lurgan had an extra spring in their step as they paraded in Bangor on the Thirteenth – the first time they had visited since the seaside resort was granted city status.

Sir Knight Andrew Hamill, worshipful district master of Lurgan RBDC No 2, said they had “a fantastic day, with good weather and wonderful support from Bangor district”.

“We have accepted an invitation to return to Bangor on the Last Saturday,” he said. “That will be another great family day out, and we are very much looking forward to the parade there.”